


Till the stars are gone

by honeybearbee



Category: Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Blood, Community: hc_bingo, Gen, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-06
Updated: 2011-09-06
Packaged: 2017-10-23 12:05:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/250099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeybearbee/pseuds/honeybearbee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Courier sees how an operation goes when not performed by Doc Mitchell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Till the stars are gone

**Author's Note:**

> Archaic medical treatment. Blood.
> 
> For hc_bingo. Title from “Stars of the Midnight Range”. For this story, the Courier is male. Minor spoilers for the game.

The Courier crept up on the Fiends outside of Vault 3. He watched their shoddy patrol for a few minutes before turning to his companions.

“You all stay here. I’ll put on the Great Khan outfit, don’t shoot me Boone, and go in and deal with them,” he said.

“I don’t like you going in alone,” Cass stated. She slung her shotgun over her shoulder and looked down at the Courier. ED-E beeped in agreement.

“I don’t like dealing with Fiends. Or Khans,” Boone muttered.

The Courier rolled his eyes and began changing his clothes. “I’ll take Rex, the Fiends will be so high on Jet, and they won’t notice a dog.”

“Rex is a special kind of dog,” said Veronica as she knelt down next to Rex and stroked his nose. “They might notice.”

“As long as he doesn’t attack anyone with a hat, this should go fine. I just need to drop off the drugs and then return to Diane.”

“Why are you doing this anyway?” Arcade asked, as he looked over the energy weapons they had. He handed the broken ones over to Raul, so the ghoul could fix them.

“I’m a courier. This is basically my job. I deliver things to people from other people. Plus, we need the caps.” The Courier finished dressing and tugged on his vest. “How do I look?”

“Adorable, Jimmy,” Lily cried happily.

“Thanks Lily,” the Courier smiled slightly. He grabbed Maria and strapped it to his thigh. “Okay, come on Rex. Let’s go deliver some drugs.”

Rex barked and began following behind the Courier. He heard his friends talking as he left them behind. They might be worried about him going in, but he wasn’t. He knew that they had his back.

****

“Shh,” the Courier whispered as he and Rex snuck past some Fiends. Rex growled lowly, but didn’t attack. As soon as the Courier approached Vault 3, a Fiend stopped him.

“What do you want?” she glared at him and pointed a gun at his head.

“I’m here to see Motor-Runner. I have a package for him. From Diane.”

The Fiend’s eye twitched slightly. “Good, I’ve been coming down and it’s getting annoying.” She put her gun down and pointed towards the vault door. “Hurry up, we need those drugs.”

The Courier nodded and went inside the Vault. Rex slinked behind him, keeping close so no one would notice him. The Courier smiled down at the robotic dog. “Don’t worry Rex,” he whispered. “You’ll be able to bite them all soon.”

Rex woofed happily and trotted after the Courier.

****

The Courier sighed and leaned against a wall outside of Motor-Runner’s room. “That was one of the worst things I have ever done. I think.” He looked down at Rex, who was sitting quietly next to him. “Come on boy, let’s go explore and find some things to take.”

The two of them set off down the hallway and began exploring each room they came across. The Courier had so far managed to get 150 caps, a few Vault jumpsuits, and even some weapons. “I still need find Daniel for that key and the NCR Ranger.” He sighed again. “Maybe they are this way.” He set off down a corridor and took a turn to the right. He paused as he saw a large window.

Through the window he could what used to be an infirmary. He didn’t think it could be called that anymore though. There were four Fiends inside the room. Two were standing nearby one Fiend that was lying down on a table, while the fourth was holding a bonesaw.

“I guess that’s the doctor,” the Courier snarked.

The Fiend doctor reached over to the random medical supplies scattered near the table and pulled out a scalpel. He motioned to the Fiend patient and the other Fiends held the patient down. The doctor brought the scalpel to the patient’s head and began to make an incision. After some time, the doctor put down the scalpel and brought the bonesaw towards the patient’s head. The patient struggled and the Courier could hear some muffled yelling.

The Courier winced and rubbed his head. “I wonder why they don’t use the drugs for an anesthetic.” Rex whined at his feet. “Oh, right. Then they couldn’t get high. They might as well let him die.” He stared at the failure of an operation for a few more seconds before turning his back on the infirmary window. “Okay, Rex. Let’s get away from this mess.”

The Courier set off down the hallway once more. The screams of the patient followed him throughout the rest of the Vault.

****

“All right, Rex. I need you to wait here,” the Courier told his dog. Rex put his ears down and whined. “Come on boy. I need to kill Daniel quietly.” He took a few steps before pausing. “You know what? You should go get the rest of the gang. I mean I’ve delivered Diane’s package, so doing the thing for Ranger Anders should be simple.” The Courier nodded and pointed towards the Vault door. “Go on. Get everyone.”

Rex barked and wagged his tail. The Courier watched the dog go, and then proceeded to sneak up to Daniel and slit his throat. He grabbed the key and made his way back towards the captives. He paused as he listened to gun fire and shouting from elsewhere in the Vault. He grinned and ran past the living quarters. He heard the yells of the captives, but didn’t stop to let them out.

“I’ll be right there!” he yelled as he ran by.

He dodged Fiends as they all ran to the front of the Vault. The Courier ran into the infirmary to see the four Fiends still inside. There was blood splattered on the floor, walls, and the Fiends. The Courier whipped out Maria and headshot the three Friends standing up. He then walked over to the last Fiend and stared at him.

“I know how you feel. At least I had a better doctor than you,” he said before placing Maria next to the Fiends head and pulling the trigger. The Courier stood there a moment, before he heard the telltale beeping of ED-E. “Coming ED-E! We have a Fiend to kill, a Ranger to rescue, and some captives to free!”

The Courier looked around the infirmary once more before leaving to find his friends. He really was glad that Doc Mitchell had patched him up. And that he was unconscious for all of it.


End file.
